Sewage Plant Will Blossom Into Marine Discovery Center

After Five Years Of Planning, The Nonprofit Center Will Take Shape This Summer.

February 6, 2000|By Ludmilla Lelis of The Sentinel Staff

NEW SMYRNA BEACH - Walking through the shabby halls of a retired sewage treatment plant, Darel S. Johnson can see beyond the rusting metal, the littered ground, the aged orange carpeting.

He can see research laboratories for university professors, tanks for fish farming and dolphin rehabilitation, and a boat dock to launch ecotours.

In the shell of the Utilities Commission wastewater treatment plant, Johnson hopes to open the Marine Discovery Center, a research and education center born of the lofty dreams of a grass-roots membership.

``I can't think of anything better than to have this center in this location where we can introduce to people the treasure that is the Indian River Lagoon,'' Johnson said.

After five years of planning, the nonprofit center will take physical shape this summer; it is scheduled to open its office on the north causeway in New Smyrna Beach.

The 3.6-acre property is being vacated by the city Utilities Commission, which built a new wastewater treatment plant near Interstate 95.

The city-owned, riverfront location is the ideal place for an environmental center where people can teach and conduct research about the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile estuary stretching from New Smyrna to Fort Pierce, Johnson said.

``This is the most diverse estuary in North America, and the reason why we have more plants and animals than any other is because we have the temperate and tropical zones overlapping,'' he said.

Boats launching from the center could take schoolchildren and adults into the Mosquito Lagoon, the northernmost section of the Indian River Lagoon system, he said.

The tour groups could see mangrove forests, ride to the spoil islands, and learn about manatees, blue herons and sea turtles in their natural environment.

The center itself could house university programs about marine biology, recycling laboratories that once tested effluent, or offer a satellite school for New Smyrna Beach High School students.

Huge tanks - providing a volume of 2 million gallons - could be converted to raise clams or pompano or to help treat and care for injured dolphins and manatees.

``We started by saying we could make this the Woods Hole of the Southeast,'' he said, referring to the top-notch oceanographic institution in Massachusetts. ``We hope to have a center to let people know what they have here in the Indian River Lagoon, and to protect it.''

The center would differ from the Volusia County-run Marine Science Center, which is scheduled to open in Ponce Inlet later this year.

The Volusia center will feature a sea turtle exhibit and will focus on grade-school education; Johnson envisions the New Smyrna center as having a stronger emphasis on university work and field research.

As with many nonprofit organizations, making these dreams a reality can't happen from enthusiasm and elbow grease alone.

Plans to open the facility have been pushed back and readjusted, based on available money. The first phase of renovations could cost about $2 million. He wouldn't say how much had been collected so far.

The group is pursuing grants and is trying to keep its visibility by offering ecotours during New Smyrna Beach's events, including the Feb. 26-27 Art Fiesta and the March 11-12 Images/Festival of the Arts, he said.

Also, Bruce Jaildagian, one of the center's directors, is offering pontoon boat rides by Canaveral National Seashore and contributing his profits toward the center.

The Marine Discovery Center can open its first office with the city's help. New Smyrna Beach City Hall is getting crowded for its employees and new office space could take three years to build. In the meantime, city officials will use some of the office's spaces, at a great savings to the environmental group.

Offices could be refurbished as early as June, giving them a place to schedule ecotours or provide information about the Indian River Lagoon.

``The key to all of this has been patience,'' Johnson said. ``Now the ball is rolling, but it's rolling slowly.''